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Category: a pen and a dream

Your Personal Behavior Map To Self-Fulfillment: A Book For All Families As Lessons From A Teacher, Coach, And Parent

By: Harvey D. Heartley, Sr., Forward by Dean Smith

Paperback: 230 pages

Publisher: Lee Ann and Veronica’s Publishing (October 1, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1940197295

ISBN-13: 978-1940197296

Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches

In his lifetime, Harvey D. Heartley, Sr. touched the lives of many as a teacher and a coach. With a true love for sports and inspiration for encouraging students to be all they could be, Coach Heartley made sure that those he taught and coached were touched not just as students, but as people, as well. Such is evident in his book, Your Personal Behavior Map To Self-Fulfillment: A Book For All Families As Lessons From A Teacher, Coach, and Parent. The book itself is a reprinting of Harvey D. Heartley, Sr.’s original book, A Book For All Families, that was brought back into print by his son, Harvey D. Heartley, Jr.

Written in a manner that sounds much like the advice a coach, mentor, or older friend would give to a student, the book provides the author’s life theories into twelve areas he calls “the real daily dozen:” Attitude, Relationships, Imagination, Socializing, Education, Mentality, Physical Fitness, Finances, Professionalism, Politics, Sexuality and Spirituality. Each of these areas provides information, advice, and guidance on how to navigate life through these different areas and how important and foundational they are to having a personal behavior map to a self-fulfilled life and discovery of purpose and ultimate happiness.

The advice presented in the book is not my personal style, and I will admit that, as a reviewer, I don’t agree with everything the author says or presents. Just because it is not advice I would give or follow, however, doesn’t mean that it isn’t right for everyone, or that nobody else can benefit from the book. Even if you don’t agree with the advice for yourself, it is good to learn and hear what others have to say, and I would definitely state that the book is worth a read and is worth discovering how you feel on each of the topics presented. The formatting is a high step up from the original book, and it is presented in a beautiful, easy-to-read format and font, and whether one agrees with the advice, or not, there are a few things that are quite evident in the presentation. The first is that the author clearly cared about his students, teaching, and about education. The second is that he obviously cared about his community and about making a difference in the lives of those around them. This means his ideas are worth a read, and he has a valid voice that should be heard.

Literary magazine featuring the best in writing, editorial commentary, poetry, short stories, books, and publishing. Published by Lee Ann and Veronica's Publishing, an imprint of The Book Masters Group International. Feature interview: Veronica M. Downing, author of three devotional books with an…

The Truth About Psychics: What’s Real, What’s Not, And How To Tell The Difference

By: Sylvia Browne (with Lindsay Harrison)

Hardcover: 411 pages

Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (April 2, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1410424073

ISBN-13: 978-1410424075

Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches

I’ll start by saying that I was never the biggest fan of Sylvia Browne (1936-2013) when she was alive. I used to keep track of her predictions, particularly the ones that related to world events or to celebrities, and she had a horrible track record. I remember her accuracy being somewhere in the area of about 10%, which made me wonder why anyone would seek her out, let alone pay her tremendous amounts of money, for readings. Then when I found out she had her own Gnostic-based church, I really wondered what the draw was to her. I get that we are all curious about the paranormal and all, but to actually sit up under a woman who claims to have a “gift” that renders her inaccurate just seemed…well…unwise.

Alas, when I came across her book, The Truth About Psychics, I only bought it because it was a Bargain Book and I thought it might give me some insight into spirits that I was seeking to learn about. As a Christian minister, I find Christian books about spirits and witchcraft all have the same tone: they are trying so hard to make something seem spiritually wrong, they start giving out exaggerated or incorrect information that can be easily proven false. So, when I want to learn more about spiritual activity, particularly in the realm of witchcraft, demonology, or “alternative powers,” I try to read sources that are more about information than prevention. This helps me to better identify things I see in ministry, especially when they are different or manifest differently from what our often untrained experts tell us they are.

The book itself presents some interesting insights into the afterlife as is viewed in the major world religions. She also breaks down different forms of divination in a way that anyone who desires to learn more about it can understand. That’s about all I have to say about the book that is positive. The book itself really isn’t about psychics, but about the entire expanse of New Age paranormal studies, including past life regression, the modern history of the paranormal movement, and different tricks of the trade, but very little of it really focuses on psychics themselves. It also is very clearly written from the personal perspective of Browne herself, and is very opinionated based on her own personal revelations of these matters, rather than fact-based, on issues that pertain to the paranormal. For example, she adamantly opposes Ouija boards, feeling they invite any type of spirit into one’s life, but she is very much in favor of tarot cards. If Ouija boards can invite spirits, why does she think that tarot cards, or divining methods, or reading tea leaves, or even crystal balls are not door openers to the spirit world in a questionable way? Her inconsistencies in perspective as well as slanting of facts from her own clearly biased perspective make the book a huge disappointment.

I give the book one star, as the information on the afterlife and divination methods are decent and easy to understand. The book overall, however, just doesn’t measure up. If you are looking for a book on how psychics operate, don’t let the title fool you. This book isn’t it.

Originally published more than fifty years ago, The Courage to Be has become a classic of twentieth-century religious and philosophical thought. The great Christian existentialist thinker Paul Tillich describes the dilemma of modern man and points a way to the conquest of the problem of anxiety.

Selected as one of the Books of the Century by the New York Public Library.

Existentialism And Humanism (by Jean-Paul Sartre)

It was to correct common misconceptions about his thought that Jean-Paul Sartre, the most dominant European intellectual of the post-World War II decades, accepted an invitation to speak on October 29, 1945, at the Club Maintenant in Paris. The unstated objective of his lecture (“Existentialism Is a Humanism”) was to expound his philosophy as a form of “existentialism,” a term much bandied about at the time. Sartre asserted that existentialism was essentially a doctrine for philosophers, though, ironically, he was about to make it accessible to a general audience. The published text of his lecture quickly became one of the bibles of existentialism and made Sartre an international celebrity.

The idea of freedom occupies the center of Sartre’s doctrine. Man, born into an empty, godless universe, is nothing to begin with. He creates his essence—his self, his being—through the choices he freely makes (“existence precedes essence”). Were it not for the contingency of his death, he would never end. Choosing to be this or that is to affirm the value of what we choose. In choosing, therefore, we commit not only ourselves but all of mankind.

The Second Sex (by Simone de Beauvoir)

Simone de Beauvoir’s masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of “woman,” and a groundbreaking exploration of inequality and otherness. Vital and groundbreaking, Beauvoir’s pioneering and impressive text remains as pertinent today as it was sixty years ago, and will continue to provoke and inspire generations of men and women to come.

Les Miserables (by Victor Hugo)

Les Miserables is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. First published in France in 1862, it is Victor Hugo’s greatest achievement–the ultimate tale of redemption. Former prisoner Jean Valjean struggles to live virtuously after an unexpected act of forgiveness by a kindly bishop changes his life. His righteous actions change people’s lives in surprising ways and culminate in romance between two young people. Les Miserables is a must-have addition to the libraries of all classic literature lovers.

The Prophet (by Kahlil Gibran)

This is Khalil Gibran’s best and most powerful work ever-written…. Blending the elements of Eastern and Western mysticism, Lebanese – American essayist – Khalil Gibran, in this enriching collection of parables expounds the philosophy of living conveying a strong and beautiful message on every aspect of life. Set forth in the form of profound wisdom and philosophy of life, these discourses apply dynamically with amazing timeliness to our human problems in day-to-day life. Millions of followers today absorb Gibran’s writings with religious devotion and fervours because his thoughts are ageless and realistic.

Brave New World (by Adolus Huxley)

The astonishing novel Brave New World, originally published in 1932, presents Aldous Huxley’s vision of the future — of a world utterly transformed. Through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering, people are genetically designed to be passive and therefore consistently useful to the ruling class. This powerful work of speculative fiction sheds a blazing critical light on the present and is considered to be Huxley’s most enduring masterpiece.

The Bell Jar (by Sylvia Plath)

The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under — maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that Esther’s insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.

To Kill A Mockingbird (by Harper Lee)

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

A lawyer’s advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee’s classic novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man’s struggle for justice—but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

One of the best-loved classics of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has earned many distinctions since its original publication in 1960.

It has won the Pulitzer Prize, been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie. It was also named the best novel of the twentieth century by librarians across the country (Library Journal).

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (by Betty Smith)

The beloved perennial classic—named as one of the books of the twentieth century by the New York Public Library.

Orville Prescott has called this American classic “one of the most dearly beloved and one of the finest books of our day.” Indeed, when A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was first published in 1943, four printing plants were required to keep up with the demand.

Seventy years later, readers are still fascinated by Betty Smith’s moving portrayal of the Nolans, a poor family living in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn. A poignant tale of childhood and the ties of family, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn will transport the reader to the early 1900s where a little girl named Francie dreamily looks out her window at a tree struggling to reach the sky.

Notes From The Underground (by Fyodor Dostoyvesky)

A predecessor to such monumental works such as Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, Notes From Underground represents a turning point in Dostoyevsky’s writing towards the more political side. In this work we follow the unnamed narrator of the story, who disillusioned by the oppression and corruption of the society in which he lives withdraws from that society into the underground. A dark and politically charged novel, “Notes From Underground” shows Dostoyevsky at his best.

Honorable Mention: Being And Nothingness (by Jean-Paul Sartre)

Here Sartre has systematically presented his philosophy of Being. This book is a sine qua non for any understanding of existentialism and its importance as one of the leading philosophical movements of the twentieth century.

Honorable Mention: The Stranger (by Albert Camus)

The Stranger is as beautiful as any work of art can hope to be. It is in the latter parts of the book, where Mersault’s words have a lyrical power not seen previous, that the English translation achieves the haunting effect that must be even more prevalent in the French. The first thing readily obvious is that the character has no emotional connection to what he experiences; he simply experiences. Thus, Camus utilizes an American style, terse and detached. Some reviewers were off put by this. “How could he not care that his mother died? ” Attaching immorality to Mersault merely shows a total misunderstanding of the book. Camus believed in “absurd freedom,” life has no inner value and is futilely cut short, but it is up to us to determine our life in such uncertainty. If one doesn’t interpret life, emotion doesn’t exist. But the values that society has incriminate you if you don’t conform. They make you strange. They take no account of individuality. That is the peril of the main character after a bizarre series of events on a sun drenched beach. The power of Camus is that even though he creates such a bleak, hopeless human situation the characters still go on as best they can, perhaps even attaining happiness. “One must imagine Sisyphus happy,” to quote The Myth of Sisyphus. That is also the power and beauty of mankind.

Honorable Mention: Dangerous Liaisons (by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos)

Published just years before the French Revolution, Laclos’s great novel of moral and emotional depravity is a disturbing and ultimately damning portrayal of a decadent society. Aristocrats and ex-lovers Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont embark on a sophisticated game of seduction and manipulation to bring amusement to their jaded lives. While Merteuil challenges Valmont to seduce an innocent convent girl, he is also occupied with the conquest of a virtuous married woman. Eventually their human pawns respond, and the consequences prove to be more serious-and deadly-than the players could have ever predicted.